MOTHER DUCK

This post is part of the Weekend in Black and White meme,
and also part of the Camera Critters meme.

SILHOUETTE

This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme.

PERUVIAN LILY

Alstroemeria, commonly called the Peruvian lily or lily of the Incas, is a genus of flowering plants in the family Alstroemeriaceae. They are all native to South America. Almost all of the species are restricted to one of two distinct centres of diversity, one in central Chile, the other in eastern Brazil. Species of Alstroemeria from Chile are winter-growing plants while those of Brazil are summer-growing. All are long-lived perennials except Alstroemeria graminea, a diminutive annual from the Atacama Desert of Chile. The genus was named after the Swedish baron Clas Alströmer (1736 – 1794) by his close friend Carolus Linnaeus.

Many hybrids and at least 190 cultivars have been developed, featuring many different markings and colours, including white, yellow, orange, apricot, pink, red, purple, and lavender. The most popular and showy hybrids commonly grown today result from crosses between species from Chile (winter-growing) with species from Brazil (summer-growing). This strategy has overcome the problem of seasonal dormancy and resulted in plants that are evergreen, or nearly so, and flower for most of the year. This breeding work derives mainly from trials that began in the United States in the 1980s. The flower, which resembles a miniature lily, is very popular for bouquets and flower arrangements in the commercial cut flower trade.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.

SEAGULLS

Gulls or seagulls are seabirds of the family Laridae in the sub-order Lari. They are most closely related to the terns (family Sternidae) and only distantly related to auks, skimmers, and more distantly to the waders. Until the twenty-first century most gulls were placed in the genus Larus, but this arrangement is now known to be polyphyletic, leading to the resurrection of several genera..

An older name for gulls is mew, cognate with German "Möwe", Dutch "meeuw" and French "mouette"; this term can still be found in certain regional dialects. Gulls are typically medium to large birds, usually grey or white, often with black markings on the head or wings. They typically have harsh wailing or squawking calls, stout, longish bills, and webbed feet.

Most gulls, particularly Larus species, are ground-nesting carnivores, which will take live food or scavenge opportunistically. Live food often includes crabs and small fish. Gulls have unhinging jaws which allow them to consume large prey. Apart from the kittiwakes, gulls are typically coastal or inland species, rarely venturing far out to sea.

This post is part of the Waterworld Wednesday meme,
and also part of the Outdoor Wednesday meme,
and also part of the Wild Bird Wednesday meme.

RED FLOWERS

It was a glorious day today, fine, sunny and warm, so we went for a walk around the neighbourhood. The gardens were all abloom and the red flowers especially were putting on a show.

This post is part of the Nature Footsteps Floral Macros meme,
and also part of the Our World Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Ruby Tuesday meme.

CALIFORNIAN POPPY

Eschscholzia californica (California poppy, golden poppy, California sunlight, cup of gold) is a species of flowering plant in the family Papaveraceae, native to the United States and Mexico, and the official state flower of California.

It is a perennial or annual growing to 13–150 cm tall, with alternately branching glaucous blue-green foliage. The leaves are ternately divided into round, lobed segments. The flowers are solitary on long stems, silky-textured, with four petals, each petal 2 to 6 cm long and broad; flower colour ranges from yellow to orange, with flowering from February to September.

The petals close at night or in cold, windy weather and open again the following morning, although they may remain closed in cloudy weather. The fruit is a slender, dehiscent capsule 3 to 9 cm (1.2 to 3.5 in) long, which splits in two to release the numerous small black or dark brown seeds. It survives mild winters in its native range, dying completely in colder climates.

This post is part of the Mandarin Orange Monday meme

MALLOW

Malva is a genus of about 25–30 species of herbaceous annual, biennial, and perennial plants in the family Malvaceae (of which it is the type genus), one of several closely related genera in the family to bear the common English name mallow. The genus is widespread throughout the temperate, subtropical and tropical regions of Africa, Asia and Europe. The plant shown here is Malva sylvestris.

The word "mallow" is derived from Old English "malwe", which was imported from Latin "malva", cognate with Ancient Greek μαλάχη (malakhē) meaning "mallow", both perhaps reflecting a Mediterranean term. A number of species, previously considered to belong to Lavatera, have been moved to Malva.The leaves are alternate, palmately lobed. The flowers are from 0.5–5 cm diameter, with five pink or white petals.The colour mauve was in 1859 named after the French name for this plant.

This post is part of the I Heart Macros meme.

PELICANS

Pelicans are a genus of large water birds comprising the family Pelecanidae. They are characterised by a long beak and large throat pouch used in catching prey and draining water from the scooped up contents before swallowing. They have predominantly pale plumage, the exceptions being the Brown and Peruvian Pelicans. The bills, pouches and bare facial skin of all species become brightly coloured before the breeding season.

The eight living pelican species have a patchy global distribution, ranging latitudinally from the tropics to the temperate zone, though they are absent from interior South America as well as from polar regions and the open ocean. Fossil evidence of pelicans dates back at least 30 million years, to the remains of a beak very similar to that of modern species recovered from Oligocene strata in France.

This post is part of the Weekend Reflections meme,

and also part of the Scenic Weekends meme.

SUNSET

This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme.

BRUNFELSIA

Brunfelsia australis (syn: bonodora) is a species of flowering plant in the family Solanaceae, the nightshades. It is endemic to Brazil, and it is grown in cultivation. Its common names include "yesterday-today-and-tomorrow", "morning-noon-and-night", and "Brazil raintree". The genus name Brunfelsia (often incorrectly spelt Brunsfelsia) commemorates sixteenth century German monk, Otto Brunfels. The species name, australis  implies an origin in the Southern Hemisphere, while bonodora, is from the Latin, and means 'sweet-smelling'.

It is an evergreen shrub which grows slowly to around 2-4m tall and 2m wide. The foliage is dense and medium green in colour. The young leaves are often purplish in cool weather. The flowers are very sweetly perfumed and appear from September to late November in Melbourne. When they first open they are a violet colour, fading to lavender blue and then white, with the three colours present on the bush at the same time, hence the common name.

The only downside is that the plant is poisonous and the brown berries have been known to poison dogs. Symptoms include fever, vomiting, muscle tremors, staggering and seizures. If you have a dog, remove the berries from the plant every year.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.